Romney and Religion at the Republican Convention

Rev. Dr. C. Welton GaddyPresident, Interfaith Alliance
Posted: 09/03/2012 6:53 pm


Last week's Republican National Convention provided an interesting window into the current role of religion in the Republican Party. From what I observed last week, almost every platform speaker talked about religion except the nominee himself. It's as if the convention's organizers were trying to send a message that the Republican Party is still the party of "real people of faith" despite the fact they nominated a Mormon.

To me, that is a sad commentary on the state of religious respect and inclusion in this country. Mitt Romney does not reference his faith apologetically. He straightforwardly presents himself as a man of deep faith - a statement that I both appreciate and believe to be true. But, let me be clear. I also believe that the Republican presidential nominee is presenting his faith in a carefully orchestrated manner intended to provide a rather general and generic view of faith. Mr. Romney does so hoping to make it palatable to that part of the electorate to whom he is catering rather than identifying himself as the deeply devoted Mormon I understand him to be.

In recent weeks, Mr. Romney has allowed cameras to follow him to church though he has not spoken about going to church. Along with President Obama, candidate Romney did answer written questions about his faith for the National Cathedral's magazine, but not even there did he refer to his faith in any detail. I found it extremely interesting that he invited members of his faith tradition to speak about him at his nominating convention, where he did not choose to speak for himself about faith.

Personally, I would have preferred to hear others speak of his credentials for the presidency and for him to speak for himself about the integrity of his faith individually. After all, he is running for an office which demands blindness toward a person's faith when it comes to the freedom and rights of citizens in this government.

more at link